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House Rules: Skills & Feats.

Posted by cooneypeteFor group 0
cooneypete
GM, 5 posts
Greyhawk
Using 5th Edition
Thu 5 Mar 2015
at 03:12
  • msg #1

House Rules: Skills & Feats

Knowledge & "Color" Skills

Every PC can pick to three knowledge or "color" skills to gain Proficiency in.  You can also make up a "color" skill--Perform, Craft or the like. These have to be non-combat related.
cooneypete
GM, 6 posts
Greyhawk
Using 5th Edition
Thu 5 Mar 2015
at 03:14
  • msg #2

Re: House Rules: Skills & Feats

Custom Feats

Because the current feat selection is pretty meager, if yo have a proposal for a new feat, send me a PM. You still have to be eligible for one or more through your build.
cooneypete
GM, 12 posts
Greyhawk
Using 5th Edition
Tue 10 Mar 2015
at 23:31
  • msg #3

Re: House Rules: Skills & Feats

quote:
When you talk about the color skills that you are giving us as a bonus, do you mean you are adding skills (old-school Knowledge: Dungeoneering, Knowledge: Nature) or are you referring to their 5e equivalents (ie, Nature, Religion, etc).  Personally I hope you are adding some of those old ones back in to allow different characters to know more about certain things because of their background...but just wanted to be clear!


To be more precise, if there is a knowledge skill that is not "professional-grade" that you want to add as representative of your character's background, use this for that. "Knowledge: Local--City of Greyhawk" is a good color skill even if you're not trained in History.

Artisan Toolkits and trained/proficient Skills are considered "professional-grade" proficiencies. You can't ask for either with this rule. What you're looking for here are smaller things. "Perform: Banjo" is a good color skill; "Perform" is not.

If you've ever played Shadowrun, think of the way they handle knowledge skills there as examples of color knowledge skills.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:37, Wed 11 Mar 2015.
cooneypete
GM, 20 posts
Greyhawk
Using 5th Edition
Wed 11 Mar 2015
at 15:38
  • msg #4

Re: House Rules: Skills & Feats

Updated post #3 above to clarify.

Artisan skills and rules-as-written skills are not color skills.
cooneypete
GM, 160 posts
Greyhawk
Using 5th Edition
Wed 15 Apr 2015
at 14:52
  • msg #5

Re: House Rules: Skills & Feats

Variant: Skills with Different Abilities

I am using the Variant rule about "skills with Different Abilities" on page 175 of the Player's Handbook.

Please make the attribute check I ask for even if you don't think it makes sense, please.

And remember the Golden Roll Rule: don't ask for or suggest rolls outside of combat. I'll tell you when you need to roll in non-combat situation.

Variant: Skills with Different Abilities:
Normally, your proficiency in a skill applies only to a specific kind o f ability check. Proficiency in Athletics, for example, usually applies to Strength checks. In some situations, though, your proficiency might reasonably apply to a different kind o f check. In such cases, the DM might ask for a check using an unusual combination o f ability and skill, or you might ask your DM if you can apply a proficiency to a different check. For example, if you have to swim from an offshore island to the mainland, your DM might call for a Constitution check to see if you have the stamina to make it that far. In this case, your DM might allow you to apply your proficiency in Athletics and ask for a Constitution (Athletics) check.

S o if you’re proficient in Athletics, you apply your proficiency bonus to the Constitution check just as you would normally do for a Strength (Athletics) check. Similarly, when your half-orc barbarian uses a display o f raw strength to intimidate an enemy, your DM might ask for a Strength (Intimidation) check, even though Intimidation is normally associated with Charisma.

cooneypete
GM, 1910 posts
Greyhawk
Using 5th Edition
Mon 17 Oct 2016
at 14:50
  • msg #6

Re: House Rules: Skills & Feats

Passive Perception, Investigation and Insight

I ALMOST ALWAYS use your Passive scores first for Perception, Insight or Investigation. While I always want you to refrain from rolling unnecessarily outside of combat, do not ever, ever, EVER roll these skills unless I EXPLICITLY ask you to. If you are unable to see an enemy using Passive scores but say you are actively looking for them in combat, I will voluntarily let you roll, but don't roll without asking. With this stupid dicebot here, your odds are better with Passive scores anyway.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:35, Mon 03 Aug 2020.
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